Liberal Ads Blame Republicans for Shutdown

A liberal lobbying group's ads are blaming congressional Republicans for the government shutdown.

Americans United for Change has made a six-figure ad buy in 10 key swing districts in an attempt to pressure House GOP lawmakers into backing proposals for a government-funding bill with no strings attached, Politico reports.

In one of the ads, released Wednesday, Michigan Rep. Tim Walberg is linked to conservatives who voted against the spending bill. It says his vote led to the shutdown, which could "weaken the economy and devastate middle-class families."

"Tim Walberg joined with tea party Republicans in Congress and shut down our government, putting hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work, slashing Head Start for thousands of kids, putting benefits for seniors at risk, denying cancer treatment for kids, and halting food inspections," the ad says.

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The ads also target Reps. Tom Latham of Iowa, Richard Hanna of New York, Dan Benishek of Michigan, Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania, Jeff Denham of California, Sean Duffy of Wisconsin, Bill Johnson of Ohio, Andy Barr of Kentucky, and Rodney Davis of Illinois.

"Make no mistake: refusing to support clean legislation to keep the government open at the 11th hour was the act of extortionist tea party Republicans, plain and simple," Brad Woodhouse, president of Americans United for Change, said in a statement.

"Public opinion has soured against the Republicans and their anti-Obamacare extortion efforts," he said, "whether it be shutting down the government or worse, threatening to default on the nation's debt obligations and sending the economy back into recession — so much so that polls show their days serving in the majority in the House are numbered if they keep it up,."